Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1887-11-03


The collapse of the iron boom In the
Gogebic region of Michigan is of inter-
est to MissouriaLs for two reasons. It
is of interest because citizens of this
State hsd thousands ofdOllars invested
i'm mines in that district, and because
it reveals the injurious effect upon q
locality which boom may exert, un-
less based on fact. About twelve or
fourteen months ago 100 compa Mons,
with nominal capital of nearly $780,
O00, 900. were formed to open or operate
iron mines in the Gogebic range. Iron
had previously been found In few
places In that locality. and these dis
coveries gave rise to the most wild and
absurd tales regarding the alleged
mineral wealth of the district. Specu-
latcrs went into the field and paid large
prices for lands which hitherto had
been virtually worthl, SO, and these i'm
dividuals circulated stories through
out the country to the effect that the
iron deposits were richer and more ex.
tensive than existed anywhere else on
the continent. They had special rea-
sons for doing this, because they had
large areas of land which they desired
to sell at as high price as they could
obtain. That tt ey were successful may
readily be inferred by the $40, 900 900
Of capital inv. sted in mining enterprisr
es of that region.
The end Of the boom came sooner
than anybody except the spectators
who disposed of the land expected. It
has now been learned that In only ten
of the mines has iron been obtained In
paying quantities.. In the other ninety
the investment has resulted disastrous
lxy Nho OF nf h,,k f.,s <~f 4 +
ninety mining companies can be sold
1t brought six months ago. Nearly all
Of them have been compelled to close
for want of funds with which to oper-
ate them. OF the money actually in
vested in them So out of every $40 is
as completely lost to the stock holders
as if it had been sunk in the middle of
the ocean or burned. Some of the min
ing companies undoubtedly went into
the scheme will. the intention Of SELL
ing out on the rise and making q big
profit. Others we're sanguine until the
last that the ore would ultimately be
found In sufficient quantities to com.
pensate them for their outlay. But to
all of these companies, whether specu-
lative or bona fide, except the ten re-
ferred to, disaster overwhelming and
has come.
The innocent victims of the designed
knaves of the Gogebic wildcat scheme
perhaps deserve the sympathy of all
honest persons. The loss which they
have sustained ia an injury to them
selves, and, In some degree, to the
The disaster must have q
peculiarly depressing effect on such of
them as are residents of Missouri.
Within the boundaries of any one of
several iron regions of this State are
deposits Of iron ore purer in quality
and immeasuarably greater In quantity
than can be found i'm the Gogebic
range. In most of these regions, too,
the cost of obtaining the ore is con'par-
atively small. The only drawback
here has been the lack of adequate
transportation facilities. This draw
back does not apply, though to the
Pilot Knob, Iron Mountain and few
other districts, and the extensions of
railroad lines already projected will
matters in this respect In some
Of the remaining .iron-producing re-
gions in this State. There has never
been an iron boom in Missouri, and
there never should be any in the sense
in which the term boom Is commonly
used. 1t is only just to say, however,
that if Missouri capitalists were as
alert and enterprising in devising
means to develop the resources Of their
own State as they are in investing
in outside schemes, both they
and the State would be more prosper
Gus than they are to-day.-GloJe-D Dem
ocrdt.